This I Believe

One of my strongest beliefs in life is in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity for betterment. This belief was proven to me through my parent’s divorce. Although this time in my life could have been devastating, I ended up learning a lot from it.

Through my parents’ divorce, my character became stronger; I learned to appreciate a lot more and to be grateful. After my mother, brother and I moved out of our home, our lives changed significantly. No longer did my brother and I get what we want, when we wanted, the most important thing was that there was food on the table and a roof over our heads. This was a big change in attitude for us. Because of the somewhat drastic lifestyle change that I had to endure, I learned to appreciate the smaller things; I became more selfless by wanting things that benefited my entire family, not just myself. Over the years things have gotten a lot easier on my family, however the lesson in being less materialistic has stayed with me. Being grateful for what I have, and not focusing on what I don’t have, is a very comforting philosophy to live by and I owe it to this experience.

Another thing I learned from my parents’ divorce was to be open-minded. At the beginning of the situation, I was reluctant to change. I did not want to move out of my house because I had been living there for five years; it was my home. Slowly I started moving my belongings into our new house, and started spending more of my time there. Now after three years, I consider my once new house my home, and I could not imagine living anywhere else. Another thing that I learned to be open-minded about was the expanding of our family. A remarriage of a parent is something that many of teenagers stress about, and some teens never truly accept it. When my mother told me about her boyfriend, I knew I had to keep an open mind because he made her happy, and I could not be selfish. My open mind helped the situation a lot, as he is now my step father whom I respect very much. He has contributed so much to our family and has become a very important role model in my life. Without an open mind, I would have never gained this. Keeping an open mind is a positive behavior that I have learned to exhibit through my parents’ divorce.

Through tough times, one must learn to cope with whatever is handed to them. I am a firm believer that if you do this, you will reap benefits. I did this through my parent’s divorce, and have now been rewarded with the strength to make it through adversity, and have also gained vital personality traits that will help me throughout my life.

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This week’s essay

Growing up in the former Yugoslavia, lawyer Djenita Pasic enjoyed the peace of her religiously diverse country. But after the fall of communism and the outbreak of the Bosnian War, Pasic was forced to reevaluate her ideas about religion and tolerance. Click here to read her essay.